Welcome to Hyperion Records, an independent British classical label devoted to presenting high-quality recordings of music of all styles and from all periods from the twelfth century to the twenty-first.

Hyperion offers both CDs, and downloads in a number of formats. The site is also available in several languages.

Please use the dropdown buttons to set your preferred options, or use the checkbox to accept the defaults.

Reviews

'There are songs of a fragrance, ambiguity and vision unique to Fauré and all the singers involved in this glorious project, while not always in their first radiance and purity of voice, never lose their sense of poetic engagement and commitment. Graham Johnson, whether writing or playing, is magically attuned to every nuance of Fauré's universe; and Hyperion's sound and presentation are impeccable' (Gramophone)

'This completes Hyperion's recording of all Fauré's songs master-minded by Graham Johnson with a quintet of specialist singers: Jennifer Smith, Felicity Lott, Geraldine McGreevy, Jean-Paul Fouchécourt and Stephen Varcoe, all in top form here … suffice it to say that this superb enterprise is a jewel in Hyperion's crown' (The Sunday Telegraph)

'The sound is warm and initimate and Johnson's comprehensive notes are packed with information on each song and its cultural surround. In all this series has proved an impressive achievement, demonstrating that even the least known of Fauré's songs is well worth hearing' (BBC Music Magazine)

'These four CDs deserve an honoured place in the collection of anyone who cares about one of the finest of all mélodistes' (International Record Review)

'There's an ineffable, nostalgia-filled sadness about Jennifer Smith's rapt delivery of the final two songs of La chanson d'Ève, the mood intensified as so often in this series by Graham Johnson's accompaniments. An outstanding disc' (Classic FM Magazine)

'Graham Johnson, whose sterling pianism distinguishes every track … his accompanimens are models of Fauréan discretion and care … Gabriel Fauré: The Complete Songs offers a vital contribution to the ongoing re-imagination of Fauré, as well as a splendid opportunity to become acquainted with his allusive art' (Nineteenth-Century Music Review)

Introduction

Here is Fauré attempting to find a style that is suitably profound for this very serious poem of Baudelaire. The composer had high hopes for this setting as is shown by its dedication to Henri Duparc, the only French composer who has truly got to the heart of that elusive poet. The first two strophes are set in Fauré’s solemn style (the song it most resembles is Seule!), the words engraved on stone like a classical pronouncement, with just a hint of contrapuntal commentary in the piano. After the word ‘arrose’ this parched music is watered and melts from static crotchets into quavers, from flats into the naturals of major key. This is only the first stage of resuscitation; after the word ‘Amour’ the tempo quickens (un poco più mosso); the accompaniment takes on a quasi philosophical, lieder-like quality, as if the song were by César Franck, or Schumann–Brahms at one remove. This pianistic style – rambling arpeggios and uncharacteristic acciacaturas – attempts to plumb new depths, but in vain. The music is not without interest or beauty (at the mention of angels at the end of the song we hear a distant prophecy of Une sainte en son auréole from La bonne chanson) but it never achieves unity with Baudelaire’s text.